It always floods in Nong Bon
Girls! Boys! All the rest of you. Stop your darn jibber-jabbering and pay some attention.
It's 27 Canadian degrees with a wind chill of 25 way out here in East Nong Bon and it's wet as a damned cha Thai nom with all the danged rain every day.
Fifty-five (55) years ago today, Thailand time, the king died.
[Wednesday Joke of the Day]
Bob, an extremely wealthy 70-year-old widower, shows up at the Country Club with a 25-year-old knockout on his arm. His golfing buddies can't believe it. When she sashays off to the powder room, the boys rush over to get the lowdown.
"Where did you find the girlfriend?"
"Brittany's not my girlfriend. She's, my wife."
His friends are flabbergasted!
"Then how did you persuade her to marry you?"
"Simple," Bob confesses. "Lied about my age."
What, you told her you were only 50?"
"Hell, no! I told her I was 95." [h/t Asean Now]
THAILAND POLITICS
The opposition groups attempting to unseat the alleged 'prime minister' ex-general Prayut have taken the case to the seldom-seen Office of the Ombudsman.
On Tuesday, the OOB said it would announce a decision on the case by next Tuesday - August 23, the day before the opposition teams claim Prayut must step down.
Petitions to the OOB say that petitions say that Prayut's term should be counted from when he first appointed himself as prime minister, just after the coup of May 22, 2014.
Prayut's official lawyer and disrespected deputy, Wissanu Krea-ngam, said the OOB has no business getting involved.
https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/politics/40018969
PRAYUT SILENT
While the Great Kerfuffle about whether Prayut's claim to be 'prime minister' continues, one voice remains unheard.
Although to be fair, Prayut said last month he won't resign and intends to remain in office indefinitely.
As of early this morning...
Prayut remains tight-lipped about the [parliamentary] opposition's move to seek a Constitutional Court ruling over a dispute regarding the eight-year limit on his premiership.
Asked about the matter after Tuesday's cabinet meeting, Gen Prayut only said: "I will not provide answers to any political issues."
Speaking of Prayut's favourite issue, Electric Vehicles...
The 'green firm' Energy Absolute promised to test-drive an electric locomotive later this year.
The train engine has been in Thailand for a month. It was made by Chinese locomotive manufacturer CRRC Dalian.
Thailand's maintenance specialist Asia Engineering & Service (Thailand) has installed a battery system.
The locomotive can (supposedly) pull train for 150... oh, maybe 200 kilometres. At a cost of 40% of a diesel engine.
https://www.nationthailand.com/in-focus/national/40018978
And still on Thai politics...
Popular MP 'Madam Dear' is outta here,
She says parliament no longer reflects the will of the people.
Which seems clear.
Madam Dear, real name Watanaya Bunnag has been a party-list of the pro-junta Palang Pracharath Party (PPRP) for three years.
https://bityl.co/DrG7
THAILAND CORONAVIRUS
This is what Rona did to Thailand during the 24 hours of Tuesday.
It's somewhat like Groundhog Day - almost the same numbes of destruction, say after day.
The number of cumulative cases in Thailand since January 1, 2022, stands at 2,400,161 with 10,189 deaths.
Separately, another 1,456 people were given their first Covid-19 shot in the last 24 hours, 1,781 their second shot and 12,824 a booster, bringing the total number of Covid-19 vaccine doses administered nationwide to 142,217,962 - roughly two inoculations per person for the entire country.
Thailand ranks 28th in the global list of most cases, which is topped by the US with 94.79 million, followed by India with 44.28 million, France with 34.23 million, Brazil with 34.18 million and Germany with 31.6 million.
The War on (One) Drug
There is a large group in Thailand that is really, no, REALLY, down on the junta for legalising the evil marijuana. And it won't be ignored.
BACKGROUND: At least two stores are peddling cannabia (US$40 per gramme), and that is a situation up with which people cannot put.
In the name of "safety checks on behalf of tourists" the Boys in Brown have blocked off every street and alley that exits Khaosan Road, the former end of the hippie trail-turned gentrified.
Bangkok deputy governor Tavida Kamolvej yesterday told media that the move is part of a broader effort to ensure safety standards are maintained in venues across the city.
In Phra Nakhon district, the BMA has ordered the closure of a restaurant and pub on Khao San Road until it can improve its structural safety, while 11 others have been suspended as they didn’t meet hygiene standards
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2368370/
And on behalf of the single politician who brought legal marijuana to Thailand:
https://www.thaienquirer.com/42860/analysis-can-anutin-charnvirakul-become-thailands-next-prime-minister/
Myanmar Widens Arrests and Slaps Aung San Suu Kyi With More Prison Time
Hands up, everyone who agrees she's a filthy corrupt slag.
The trial was held behind closed doors, with no access for media or the public, and her lawyers were forbidden by a gag order from revealing information about the proceedings.
She denied all the charges, and her lawyers are expected to appeal.
In the four corruption cases decided on Monday, Suu Kyi was alleged to have abused her position to rent public land at below market prices and to have built a residence with donations meant for charitable purposes. She received sentences of three years for each of the four counts, but the sentences for three of them will be served concurrently, giving her a total of six more years in prison.
The goal of the Tatmadaw dictatorship, as stated here before, is to continue to add prison sentences as needed so that the 77-year-old never is seen outside again.
https://www.9news.com.au/world/san-suu-kyi-convicted-on-more-corruption-charges/51f58fa3-56a5-477a-8136-93d578ba1100
'U.N. envoy' goes to Myanmar
NAY PYI TAW: According to a statement from the United Nations:
Singaporean Noeleen Heyzer "will focus on addressing the deteriorating situation and immediate concerns as well as other priority areas of her mandate."
She lists her occupation as 'social scientist'.
It is her first visit to the country. It did not get off to a magnificent start.
She has no official itinerary
It's unknown if she even requested to see Aung San Suu Kyi
She has no appointment yet with Tatmadaw coup leader and dictator Senior General Min Aung Hlaing
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/un-envoy-noeleen-heyzer-travels-to-strife-torn-myanmar-for-the-1st-time-122081600092_1.html
TAIWAN WEST-TAIWAN LOGIC-101
Chinese foreign ministry spokesladyperson asks for and gets online ridicule
So there's this chick, Hua Chunying, proud to be a Chinese Communist Party member, works at the CCP's ministry of foreign affairs. She is an assistant minister. Sharp, bilingual and so on. Uses Twitter even though it is completely against the law for Chinese to use Twitter.
She was looking at some maps of Taiwan on Baidu, which is like Google only in simplified Chinese, and she wasn't looking for military targets, on the contrary she was checking out the best restaurants she could visit right after the glorious people's liberation army liberates Taipei. And in particular, "Baidu Maps show that there are 38 Shandong dumpling restaurants and 67 Shanxi noodle restaurants in Taipei." Yummie yummy.
But CCP members never let an opportunity for a delicious night out go to waste.
Those restaurants prove - not that any more proof is needed, but they prove "Taiwan has always been part of China."
She got plenty of comments before she shut off her Twitter. One "Terry Adams" noted,
"There are 29 dumpling houses in the Greater Los Angeles area not to mention 89 noodle restaurants, so using Hua's logic, LA has always been a part of China."
PHOTO: Nice jade, Chunying. Did you get that in Chiang Mai?
https://hongkongfp.com/2022/08/08/chinese-foreign-ministry-spokesperson-sparks-ridicule-online-with-taiwan-restaurant-tweet/
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2022/08/09/2003783214
Tsai chats with visiting U.S. senators
Taiwan President Tsai Ing-wen (蔡英文) told a visiting U.S. delegation led by Senator Ed Markey that a top Taiwanese goal is 'stability in the Taiwan Strait.
The 'bipartisan' Americans went to Tsai's office for the meeting.
"We are engaging in close cooperation with allies to closely monitor the situation," said Tsai.
"At the same time, we are doing everything we can to let the world know that Taiwan is determined to safeguard our stability and the status quo of the Taiwan Strait."
Markey, who is a supporter of Taiwan and chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia and the Pacific, noted whimsically that he is one of a very few senators who voted for the Taiwan Relations Act of 1979.
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2022/08/16/2003783597
China is practising for an invasion, says Taiwan
Taiwan's foreign minister Joseph Wu Chao-hsieh (吳釗燮) said on Monday that the Chinese People's Liberation Army is using daily military drills and OOB to prepare an actual invasion of the island republic. He called them "gross violation of international law."
"China has used the drills in its military playbook to prepare for the invasion of Taiwan," said Wu at an English-language media briefing.
"It is conducting large-scale military exercises and missile launches, as well as cyberattacks, disinformation and economic coercion, in an attempt to weaken public morale in Taiwan."
In the past week, the PLA has conducted more than 100 sea and air crossings of the median line, an agreed demarcation between the mainland and the Republic of China.
https://www.taipeitimes.com/News/front/archives/2022/08/10/2003783272
THAILAND BANGKOK WEATHER
'I'll be a little late getting home tonight, dear.'
Heavy rain pounded Greater Bangkok on Monday evening and left some eastern districts of the capital reeling under knee-deep water.
Southeastern Bangkok submerged as rain lashes central Thailand
That is, the exact 'eastern district' where the Daily Fishwrap is produced and published. Oh, well.
The Department of Drainage and Sewerage at the Bangkok Metropolitan Administration aka City Hall reported that the rainstorm lashed Bangkok, Pathum Thani, Nonthaburi, Nakhon Pathom, Samut Sakhon, Samut Prakan, Chon Buri, Chachoengsao and Nakhon Nayok provinces. Also known as the Greater Bangkok Area, or GBA.
The highest accumulated rainwater measured 111.5 millimetres at the Prawet district office in Bangkok, followed by 88.5mm at Bung Nong Bon lake in Prawet district.
https://www.bangkokpost.com/thailand/general/2369125/
THAILAND DRIVING SAFETY
Coming in September
Every person in every car in Thailand must wear a seatbelt. Scofflaws will have to pay a 2,000-baht fine, on the spot - 57 U.S. dollars or CDN $73.00.
All curtain climbers must be belted into a 'child safety seat' until they are six. No more of that holding babies and youngsters, we're watching you.
Carmakers (and importers) have already been warned to have seatbelts or cars will be seized. Much more at:
https://royalcoastreview.com/2022/08/new-seat-belt-rules-to-apply-from-september/
THAILAND CURRENCY EXCHANGE
And just like that, the baht bounces higher than a Michael Jordan jump shot
THB/USD: Thailand Tourism Boom Drives Baht to Asia's Best Currency
Stronger baht driven by recovering tourism sector
https://www.thestar.com.my/business/business-news/2022/08/16/stronger-baht-driven-by-recovering-tourism-sector
RUSHDIE ATTACK STABBING IRAN
Iran blames Salman Rushdie and supporters for his stabbing
"Regarding the attack on Salman Rushdie, we do not consider anyone other than [Rushdie] and his supporters worth of blame and even condemnation," Iranian Foreign Ministry spokesman Nasser Kanaani said in a televised news conference Monday, marking the country's first public reaction to the incident.
"We have not seen anything else about the individual that carried out this act other than what we've seen from American media. We categorically and seriously deny any connection of the assailant with Iran."
https://edition.cnn.com/2022/08/15/middleeast/iran-blames-rushdie-attack-intl/index.html
If you've wondered where your love-partner went for the last hour, here's graphic help.
The Prostitution business makes US$186 billion per year. According to Economist, In 2006, the cost for one hour of sex with a female sex worker averaged $340 worldwide. Nowadays, the average rate is down to $260. But how does this billion-dollar industry trickle down to the workers who make it possible?
Full chart and explanation:
https://vividmaps.com/price-of-sex-around-the-world/
U.S.A. ILLEGAL ALIENS
Record Numbers of Migrants Cross Southern Border of the U.S.A. Biden on Track for Annual Total of Two Million.
https://www.wsj.com/articles/illegal-immigration-arrests-hit-record-reasons-for-border-crossings-changing-11660599304
Ask your kids. Or your grandkids. They'll know.
